Stephen Daldry directed this 2011 big-screen version of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel, starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Despite its cast and two Academy Award nominations, including best picture, the movie did middling business at the box office, earning $31 million.

Stephen Daldry directed this 2011 big-screen version of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel, starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Despite its cast and two Academy Award nominations, including best picture, the movie did middling business at the box office, earning $31 million. (Francois Duhamel / Warner Bros.)

Hollywood has struggled to make cinema sense of the human tragedy of 9/11 and its victims. While the industry has made critically acclaimed movies from the raw material, its post-9/11 pictures have mostly failed at the box office.